St. Petersburg – St. Pete Pride launched its new logo in December, and so far there hasn’t been much reaction from the community. That could speak to the cleanliness of the new look, according to executive director Eric Skains.
The new logo appeared at St. Pete Pride’s Red & Green Party in early December and even appeared on invitations. The old logo, with the bold, black type and the colorful palm tree and beach scene, were still on the website at the end of 2014.
“The old logo was a bit outdated and void of meaning,” Skains said. “Our logo should guide us as an organization in the same manner as our mission and vision statements. We asked our creative team (Dash Creative) a few months ago to develop a new image for the organization that shows our commitment to the community, celebrates diversity, and gives us ongoing direction. It does just that.”
St. Pete Pride Board Persident Scion Provenzano explained that the hexagon shapes in the new logo are the same shape as pavers used throughout St. Petersburg’s historic neighborhoods.
And Skains said the teal color is representative of the water on nearby beaches. Another very noticeable change is the font of the organization’s name.
“Everything is lowercase to represent equality,” Skains said.
And there’s also a reason why the two hexagons are linked.
“The two hexagons form rings that are linked together to represent the foundation of Pride: bringing our community together,” Skains added. “No matter who you are or where you’re from—gay or straight, Christian or Muslim, black or white, east of the bay or west of the bay—we’re all one community. This is what guides us, not only as an event, but as an organization that’s here for the entire community.”
Provenzano said she’s proud of the new logo and hopes that eventually, the hexagons will come to symbolize Florida’s largest LGBT Pride event.
“People will start to realize that this is who we’re becoming and that it represents the path we’re headed down,” Provenzano said. “More and more people will talk about it and I hope they love it as much as I do. We put a lot of work into this and the basis of it fits everything very well. It’s clean and moving us into the future.”
Eventually, the words “St. Pete Pride” could drop off of the logo completely, Provenzano added, with just the interlocking hexagons representing the festival and the organization.
